by Andrew Rowe
I was less amused. “In virtually every encounter, I’ve been impossibly outclassed in combat. I considered other options — things to make me move faster, or block attacks — but this was what I had the materials for, and sometimes it’s necessary to have a strong enough weapon to deter your enemies.”
“I quite agree. But why not use a tested design? There are dozens, if not hundreds of designs for dueling canes alone. Why make your own?”
“A gauntlet is something I can always have on me. It’s also not an obvious weapon. I would have preferred a ring, but I couldn’t afford a gem with a reasonable mana capacity.”
Vellum crinkled her lips. “At least you were thinking. That’s better than I can say for the majority of my students.” She shook her head. “But I can’t let you keep making disasters like this.”
I looked down. “I’ll make sure to draw boundaries next time, professor.”
“No, no, no. It’s more than that. This isn’t your first incident; don’t think I didn’t hear about you overcharging that war cane. You’re experimenting. And experimenting is always going to have risks.”
“What do you want me to do, then?” My palms stung, and I looked down to see my fists clenched tightly, nails digging into my skin. “Stop enchanting until my second year — assuming I can survive that long?”
“Goddess, no, boy. Of course not.” She handed the gauntlet back, and I had to unclench one of my hands to take it from her. “Never stop enchanting. Never stop creating. Never stop thinking. That is your greatest asset, even if it can also be your greatest weakness. No, I don’t want you to stop.”
She stood up, her eyes sharp and gleaming. “No, I want you to listen. Because I’m going to teach you some real enchantments.”
Chapter XII — Testing Phase One
I left Professor Vellum’s office with my mind in a much better place. In spite of her gruff exterior, she provided me with the key information I needed to make my gauntlet work. Better yet, she promised to start private lessons on much more potent enchantments in the future. The kind I couldn’t find in textbooks, even the ones designed for graduates.
It put a bounce back in my step. I fixed the gauntlet almost immediately, and then found an older student to check it. He seemed “pretty sure” it would work.
It did work.
It worked beautifully.
The transference blasts were sufficient to hurl a person across a room with ease. I suspected the gray mana blasts would break ribs, or maybe kill a small monster like a slime outright.
It was about at that point that I remembered I had a team test coming up later in the week, and I still needed to recruit two people.
Getting Jin, as Sera had requested, was simple enough. He came by regularly to pick up the small items I was still working on enchanting for him. I only had a few items left that I thought I could make, and I hoped to finish those before the test if possible.
“Hey, team competitions coming up. Do you have a team yet?”
“Hmm,” Jin replied, projecting disinterest. He tossed the bracelet I’d handed him from his right hand into his left. “Do you?”
“I have Sera and Patrick so far. With you, we’d only need one more, and I have a strong candidate in mind.”
He unclasped the bracelet, and then slipped it around his left wrist and snapped it shut. “I’ll be unable to use the full capabilities of any attunement. Is that acceptable?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think they’ll be fine with it. With all the things I’ve been making you, I suspect you’re better prepared than any regular attuned would be at this point, anyway.”
His lips stretched into a thin smile. “Better even than you think.”
It was so typical of Jin to play mysterious that I couldn’t help but laugh. He looked offended for a moment and opened his mouth, but closed it a second later without saying anything. Then he smiled again himself and huffed a soft laugh. This smile was smaller than the one before it, but he was still wearing it as he left my room.
My next candidate would be a tougher sell.
I headed to the women’s dorms. It took some asking around just to find the right room.
I thought I saw Cecily Lambert in the distance while I headed toward the Tortoise’s Heart. As with every time I’d seen her on campus, I did my best to pretend I hadn’t seen her. I still wasn’t ready for the conversations we needed to have.
The Tortoise’s Heart was a smaller facsimile of the Tortoise Spire, one of the six Shifting Spires. “Smaller” in this case meant a mere twelve stories in height.
The Heart’s defining features were the encircling walls, designed to resemble those of the tortoise’s shell. The wall was constructed from hundreds of green hexagonal panels, each etched with dozens of runes. I didn’t know if they were actually functional, but I was willing to bet that they were.
A second shell-like fixture hung over the top of the building, casting shade over the entire structure.
The only way into the building was a solitary ramp leading to the middle of the building. From there, I had to take a winding staircase to get to the appropriate floor.
All in all? The building felt less like student housing and more like a fortification.
I kind of loved it, but I wouldn’t ever be getting in.
At any given time, only the hundred and twenty best students in Tortoise Division were permitted to stay here. They retained their old rooms as well. That was necessary, given that they could be kicked out of the Tortoise’s Heart the day their points scores dropped below a competitor’s.
Every class had equivalent buildings; for Phoenix Division, we had the more simply named “Phoenix Hall” for men and the elegant “Phoenix’s Wings” for women. Ours were smaller, however, and only housed fifty students of each sex.
I was paying close attention to my own rankings. Graduating was a high priority, but I wasn’t anywhere close to qualifying for the Phoenix Hall... at least yet. When I’d checked at the Divinatory last, they’d told me I was #238 in my Division with a total of 112 points. We had about fifteen hundred students in Phoenix Division total, which made my rank respectable, but nowhere near the top.
I was nervous for what felt like an infinite number of reasons when I stood in front of the door to one of the rooms, preparing to knock. The main reason was agonizingly simple: in spite of confirming three times, I still worried I was at the wrong room.
The other reasons were a bit more personal, and involved embarrassing hypotheticals of being rejected.
I almost turned away. Instead, I just stared blankly at the door for a solid minute before I got frustrated enough to overwhelm my fear. Then I knocked.
“Just a minute.”
It was the right voice. That made things better and worse.
Marissa opened her door a moment later.
“...Corin? What are ye doing ‘ere?”
I gave a pathetic little wave. “Uh, hi. I was, um, wondering if you had a team for the tests this week?”
Her mouth twitched downward a fraction. “No. Why?”
“I was hoping you’d join my team. We’ve got a pretty good group, but we’re lacking front-line fighters.”
She leaned back on her heels and folded her arms across her chest. “Rupert isn’t on your team, is he?” Her eyes flicked behind me, scanning outside the door.
I followed her gaze, twisting to see the empty walkway behind me before turning back to her figure in the doorway, baffled. “Rupert?”
She blinked. “Kent,” she said, as though this were obvious. “Rupert Kent. From dueling class?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t know his first name. And no, he’s not on the team. Why would that be a problem?”
“I... well...” Marissa slumped. Her head dipped for a moment, then lifted. She blew her hair out of her face, and her eyes had lost most of the wariness from before. “Do you want to come inside?”
I shrugged and gave her a closemouthed half-smile. “Sure?”
“C’mon.”
I followed her into to the room, closing the door behind me.
She sat down on her bed, waving to a seat near a writing desk. I took a seat and shifted in the chair, not sure how to dispel the awkward atmosphere. My eyes took in the room while I avoided her gaze.
It was half-again the size of mine, and nicer by far. The floor was covered in pristine blue-white carpet, the walls looked freshly painted, and the room’s ceiling was a couple feet higher up. Her bed was much bigger than the one I’d been provided, too, and a metal-covered serving tray was sitting on the writing desk beside her books. One of the perks of these “elite” buildings was that they had their own kitchens, and those kitchens were available to deliver food directly to the rooms.
All that enhanced my interest in getting into Phoenix Hall, though I was still more interested in the points to help me graduate than the added luxury.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, I’m just inviting ye in to talk.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
That was all I’d planned on. Now that she’d pointed it out, I could understand why she wanted to set expectations. But with all the things I’d been nervous about, sex wasn’t on the list.
I could see that she might be the type to attract attention. I liked her hair, fine and bright yellow, like corn. But I’d never been interested in people like that. I’d expected that to change as I’d gotten older, but those much-vaunted pubescent urges just never struck me the same way they seemed to hit other people.
I didn’t mind. It meant I could focus on more important priorities, like not dying. That was one of my favorite hobbies.
Once we were seated, I asked the obvious question. “So, what’s all this about Rupert Kent?”
She took a deep breath. “I know it’s not my place to go askin’ someone of your stature anythin’, but please, you can’t go tellin’ anyone ‘bout this.”
I was curious before, but now I was intrigued. I nodded. “Okay. I won’t say anything. Now, what’s this about?”
She sighed, putting a hand over her eyes. “It’s... a bit of a tale.”
I adjusted my chair, leaning back. “I’ve got time.”
“I s’pose the first thing ye need to know is that I’m from outside Ellis.” Marissa turned her head away from me, sounding wistful. “Spent my first years on a farm outside of Kentsford.”
“Kentsford? As in, House Kent, I take it?”
She nodded. “The same, m’lord. House Kent be country nobles, and they’ve some of the finest lands outside of the gate. One day, me parents and I were huntin’ near home — within our rights, mind you — and we came upon a noble’s party gallopin’ through. Wouldn’t have been no problem, save that their son be with them, and be of age with me.”
I wasn’t sure how that was an issue, so I just waited for them to continue.
“Little boy Kent says he thinks I’m pretty, and that he wants to take me home. Thought he was just having a laugh, but then I see an older man, much older, looking me over. And I can see his eyes, and I know he thinks me real pretty, too.” She shuddered, her jaw tightening.
“Can’t imagine they had any shortage of young girls about, with all their lands and coins, but maybe I’m just the right kind. Kid is getting real insistent with the parents, so they humor him. The older man comes to talk to my father, sounding real apologetic-like, and explains that he’s Baron Kent, and asks if he’d like to send his daughter to stay with them for a while.
“My father’s not having any of it. ‘She’s only nine,’ he says. I was eleven, but slight of frame at the time. ‘Why don’t you ask her what she’d like?” the baron asks, all charm and smiles.”
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t like where this was going.
“So, my dad, he asks me real nice, if I’d like to go with the boy. I shake my lil’ head and cling to his leg, knowin’ even then that there was nothin’ good to be had from that. Father says he’s sorry, and wishes the baron the best of luck on his hunt, and takes me straight home. The little boy whines until we’re long out of sight.”
She folds her hands in her lap. “If that was the end of it, I’da thought no more of it. But each year, he shows up again. Doubt he thinks I’ll change my mind, but he never stops. Was hoping my attunement would finally put him off, but you saw him in class.”
I’d known that country nobles had a reputation for taking their status much more seriously than my own family did. I expected that higher ranking nobles in the city probably did too, but I hadn’t spent a lot of time around them. My family had only been nobility for a few generations. We’d been granted it for military service, so we weren’t exactly old blooded traditionalists.
I hadn’t realized just how much of a difference that would make, though. A child wanting to play with another child was one thing. Treating another person like a possession was something else entirely.
“I’m sorry that you had to deal with that.” I knew the statement was insufficient, especially given the implication that Kent’s father might have been trying to get her to come home with them. Disgusting wasn’t a strong enough word to describe what that implied.
“Nice of you to say so. But you’ll forgive me if I’m a bit distrustful.”
I sighed. “I understand... Goddess, I don’t know what I’d do in your place. Do you think he knows that his father was... well, interested in you?”
I rubbed my forehead. She shook her head. “Don’t think so. But don’t you start spreadin’ that—”
“I won’t. I just figured that might put things into context, get him to stop bothering you.”
“He’d just laugh at me. Not to be rude, but ye don’t know him like I do, that’s clear as city sky. Not a chance he’d believe, even if ye’d be telling him. And even if he did believe it, I doubt he’d care a wick.”
That certainly made things trickier. “All right. Well, you’re right, I don’t know him. But I would like to get to know you. And no, just to be clear, I don’t mean intimately. I just mean that you seem competent, and our team could use someone who can punch out lightning.”
Marissa breathed a laugh. “I s’pose that’s something I could do for you.”
“Also, you don’t need to worry about my family being important, or being rude to me. I’m about the least important noble in the world right now. I’ll explain my whole story to you later, if you’re interested in hearing it.”
She bit her lip over a mouth that was still trying to smile before she said, “I s’pose I would be.” She seemed much happier than she had when our conversation began.
“All right, then. But for the moment, if you’re willing, I think we both have some papers to sign.”
I offered my hand to clasp. She accepted it.
***
Vasday, the ninth week of school. The day of our first test.
I scratched absently at my wrist, just under the demi-gauntlet, while we waited outside the testing room. I’d finished making the necessary adjustments the night before. It seemed to be working as intended now, at least in my initial tests. I didn’t have time to ask Professor Vellum to look it over after I’d finished making the changes, so I was hoping I wouldn’t have to make use of it during the test.
Of course, knowing me, I’d find some way to convince myself to use it either way.
We had a few minutes before our time slot, and I could tell most of the others were just as nervous as I was. Even Jin was showing it in his own stoic sort of way, shifting his eyes from side-to-side a little more frequently than necessary as he leaned against the wall near the door.
Patrick was the worst, visibly rolling back and forth on his feet.
We all knew that the stakes of this test were high. It was worth up to a hundred points. One fifth of what we needed to graduate. Even more importantly, a failing grade would result in immediate expulsion. Straight to military service, no further training.
I couldn’t afford to let that happen. I needed this training, as well as
the chance to serve out my military years as a climber.
I would not let myself fail here.
Sera examined her watch, a purchase from our recent shopping excursion. “Five minutes to go.” She shook her head. “Try to breathe, Patrick.”
He gave a nervous chuckle. “Breathing. Right. I knew I was forgetting something.”
She smirked. “As for the rest of you, once we get inside, just follow my lead. If this is anything like the actual tower we won’t have any difficulty.”
When I said “most” of us were nervous, Sera was the exception. Her grin was razor-sharp and her eyes glowed with eagerness.
I wish I could have mirrored her enthusiasm.
The doors opened a couple minutes later and an unfamiliar second-year student led us inside. She was a short, black-skinned girl with stylish spectacles and a pristine Serpent-class uniform.
I’d never been inside the testing facility before. I knew Tristan had taken a practice Judgment in a similar place at a different school, but I never had the chance to do the same.
The entry room was remarkable in its unremarkableness. Just white-painted walls, a row of five chairs, and doors at the center of each wall. It was perfectly square, maybe twenty feet across.
The older student led us to the chairs. “Sit.”
We took our seats, glancing at each of the doors. They weren’t marked.
The student folded her arms. “Okay, we’re short on time, so I’ll get right to it. The first test is with smaller groups, so you’re splitting up. Two groups of two, one standby. Both the groups of two will start at the same time in different tests. Either of them can call in the standby to swap out for one of their members at any time. I’ll give you a signet to call the swap. You’ve got...” she looked at her wrist, but she wasn’t wearing a watch, “...three minutes to pick your teams. Wait here.”
With that, she walked away, heading into room directly opposite from where we’d entered. We dragged our chairs into a circle, and then looked expectantly at Sera.